Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to doors, and, more particularly, to hollow core doors having a center panel around which air flows outwardly through the door for preventing air pressure from building up in a closed room having a forced air system, and movable damper panels controlling the flow of air around the panel.
Description of the Prior Art
Hollow core doors have been made for many years for inside doors. The hollow core doors are less expensive than solid core doors, are easier to manufacture, and they are generally rigid and hence resist warping and twisting. Such hollow core doors make up the largest share of inside doors where strength and security are not required.
A hollow core door includes a conventional perimeter frame having a pair of vertically extending stiles and a pair of horizontally extending rails. The perimeter frame is covered typically with plywood or other appropriate panels or skins secured to the perimeter frame. There are generally also inside frame elements, typically wood strips extending horizontally between vertical frame members or in an “x” configuration within the perimeter frame for reinforcing the skins.
With the advent of cheaper materials, such as hardboard and medium density fiberboard (mdf) to replace the plywood, the construction of doors became less expensive using the cheaper materials than the manufacture of doors using the more expensive plywood panels or skins. However, the use of hardboard and mdf also requires a binder, and the most commonly used binder is a urea formaldehyde resin or compound. In other words, the substances out of which panels for hollow core doors are made inherently include, under contemporary manufacturing processes, at least a single noxious material.
The use of urea formaldehyde contributes to what is sometimes referred to as “Sick Building Syndrome.” This syndrome is caused by the gas emissions from the formaldehyde and from other chemicals used in the new door products and from other products in the home that also use formaldehyde resin or binder, such as furniture, kitchen cabinets, wood flooring, counter tops, wallpaper, carpet, and even paint.
There may also be other factors contributing to the Sick Building Syndrome, such as poor ventilation, combustion gases, fumes from attached garages, high auto traffic, tobacco smoke, and various volatile organic chemicals or VOCs. However, formaldehyde compounds or products probably contribute most to the Sick Building Syndrome and to the discomfort of people in the building or structure.
One solution, or partial solution, to the syndrome is to reduce the use of formaldehyde products. Another solution is to provide a product or products that absorbs and decomposes the formaldehyde gases and other noxious gases or products. The present invention includes absorbent material which absorbs and decomposes formaldehyde gases and other noxious materials and removes them from within the hollow core door and from air passing through the hollow core of a door to help clean the air within the room and building in which the door is located.
Moreover, the use of several doors in a house or building, such as one or more doors in each room, provides sufficient area on which is disposed the absorbent material for cleaning or scrubbing the air flowing through the doors. It is noted that typically each room in a house has at least one door, and rooms may have more than one door when closet doors, etc., are taken into consideration. The more doors in a home or building, the more efficient the scrubbing or cleaning process becomes.
It is also noted that in the case of new construction, doors are usually installed towards the end of the construction period, but prior to occupancy. It is important to clean the air of all the noxious material occasioned by the construction, such as paints, adhesives, smoking, new furniture, etc., prior to occupancy. The use of fans to change the air after construction and prior to occupancy may remove much of the noxious materials, but VOCs and adhesive gases may continue to outflow from their sources for a substantial period of time after construction and after occupancy. The present invention helps to remove those noxious materials from the air on a continuing, long term basis.
Hollow core doors also have an advantage in that the hollow core is ideal for including pressure equalization elements to prevent air pressure from building up within a closed room. Air pressure building up in a room interferes with the proper circulation of heated or cooled air in a forced air system.
Typically, there are no cost effective ways to prevent the increase in pressure in a closed room relative to a return air space. The return air space in a house is usually a hall which has a return air duct which conveys return air back to an air handler.
Several embodiments of hollow core doors of the present invention overcome the problem of preventing pressure build up in a room and at the same time provide substantial privacy relative to both light, sight, and sound. Moreover, the air scrubbing and pressure build up structures may be combined to provide a “smart door” that performs both a scrubbing function and a pressure build up prevention function.
Hollow core doors may also include a safety function when a pressure build up function is combined with a sensor to detect fire, smoke, carbon monoxide, etc., and then close off air flow through the door to provide a extra times for residents to evacuate the room, or to help isolate a sick or ill person from spreading contaminated air. A hollow core door with pressure build up prevention function may add a center fixed panel about which air flows from an opening in the inside skin and through an opening in the outside skin in order to prevent pressure build up in the room in which the door is installed.
Air flow through the door is controlled by movable panels secured to the center panel to prevent air flow in case of need. The door then is better at retarding fire and smoke than an ordinary or standard interior hollow core door and to provide a greater degree of privacy by controlling sight, sound, and light through the door. An actuator may move the movable panels in response to an appropriate signal from the sensor.